Sunday, March 23, 2008

Cyclists are increasingly hindered by cars, parking on cycle paths. This is often because cycling infrastructure is on the rise in the world and car drivers are not always respecting cyclists as equal partner in traffic with dedicated infrastructure; also SUV's don’t seem to fit in standard parking bays. The European program Spicycles (Sustainable Policies for Cities on Cycling) promoting cycling policy in Barcelona, Berlin, Bucharest, Göteborg, Ploiesti and Rome flags this consequence of the growing popularity of cycling in the world.Amsterdam based Velo Mondial has convinced the other members of the consortium of the benefits of developing an application for the European satellite Galileo. With this application Galileo can visualize objects in cities. A parallel program will analyze if cycle paths are blocked by cars, will identify them and store their license plate details. It is then up to the authorities to act upon the generated data. This application is now possible with Galileo since it operates more satellites than the US based GPS. More details will follow at the occasion of the launch of ‘Amsterdam Cycling to sustainability’ during Intertraffic at RAI Conference center in Amsterdam. A more detailed Spicycles newsletter will be available soon.

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

The Initiative ‘Amsterdam Cycling Capital’ has developed into a broad platform that will start up quite a number of projects on sustainable mobility. The bicycle will serve as an icon.It is our pleasure to invite you to the launch of the ‘Amsterdam Sustainable Mobility Platform’ and the International Campaign: ‘Amsterdam Cycling to Sustainability’.1 April: 16.00 – 18.00 Launch of the international campaign & Amsterdam Sustainable Mobility Platform2 April: 09.30 – 12.45 Amsterdam City of Sustainable Mobility Symposium3 April: 11.30 – 13.00 The Public Bicycle Workshop3 April: 14.00 – 15.30 Technical tour to the North South Metro building project.More on the program and how you can register can be read here.

Saturday, March 15, 2008

Only a tiny fraction of all the information going into your brain enters your consciousness. People often fail to see a change in their surroundings because their attention is elsewhere. This phenomenon is known as "change blindness". Even stranger, if you are concentrating on something, you can become blind to other events that you would normally notice. This "inattention blindness" is possibly the reason why motorists collide with cyclists.Just as it is important for road users to keep an eye out for cyclists, cyclists must also take steps to ensure they are seen by motorists.See this add.